Agenda and minutes

The Chairman will welcome those present to the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Matt Dean (Wiltshire Council), Jeff Ligo (Chairman of Bratton Parish Council) and Councillor Jane Russ (Westbury Town Council).

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 1 July 2021.

The minutes of the meeting held on 1 July 2021 were presented for consideration. A spelling mistake was noted to be amended regarding Westbury Town Council Deputy Mayor, Ward Jones, on Page 4. After which it was;

Resolved

To approve the minutes as a correct record.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive the following announcements through the Chair:

·       The 2023 Boundary Review

·       Covid-19 Booking Vaccines

·       Ash Dieback

·       The Westbury Young People Awards 2021

·       Wiltshire Council Draft Climate Strategy Consultation

The chairman gave the following updates:

·       The 2023 Boundary Review

Last month the Boundary Commission for England published its initial proposals for new constituency boundaries, with the proposals and maps for the nine English regions published on their website. Though the consultation window has now closed, area specific information can be found on the linked website within the agenda pack by entering a post code or region. This can be used to view the current constituency and local authority boundaries as well as the proposals for the new constituency boundaries.

·       Covid-19 Booking Vaccines

The Chairman reminded those in attendance not to forget to book their Covid-19 vaccine. Those looking to book an appointment should use the National Booking Service, which is available online or for those who do not have internet access, appointments can be booked by calling 119. The web link for booking an appointment can be found within the agenda pack.

It was acknowledged that it would be worthwhile for the Area Board to send this report to the Parish councils for use on their own websites and notice boards.

·       The Westbury Young People Awards 2021

The Westbury Local Youth Network and Area Board, along with Matravers School are hosting the return of the Westbury Young People Awards. The event will take place in the evening of Wednesday 17 November and nominations are open now, with a closing date of Friday 17 September.

·       Wiltshire Council Draft Climate Strategy Consultation

Consultations on both the draft Wiltshire Climate Strategy and Our Natural Environment Plan started on 1 September and run until 23.59 on 17 October 2021.Information about both consultations are available through the links in the agenda supplement and comments can also be submitted through the two online surveys that are included.

·       Ash Dieback

The announcement was introduced by Community Engagement Manager, Graeme Morrison, which was then followed by a video covering the issues of Ash Dieback. A link to the video can be found in the agenda pack as part of the attached Ash Dieback report.

To receive any updates from partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

·       Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

·       BaNES, Swindon and Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)

·       Healthwatch

·       POPCAN

·       Town and Parish Councils Nominated Representatives

Some written updates have been received and are included in this agenda.

Updates were received from the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

The Area Board received a verbal update from Inspector Al Lumley. An overview was provided of the performance over the last 12 months to July 2021, which included the following points:

• In July 2021 10,020 “999” calls were received and were answered within 11 seconds on average. Additionally, in July 2021, 1,908 emergency incidents were attended within 10 minutes and 11 seconds on average.
• Comparative data was provided which saw Westbury very aligned with the rest of the force, suggesting that there is not one specific issue affecting Westbury.
• Stop and Search data was provided with 64.4% of searches having found nothing on the individual.

An overview of the local priorities for Westbury was provided, which included the following areas:

·       Speed Enforcement – The Police are aware that this continues to be an issue especially following the easing of restrictions. Community Speedwatch teams are active, and the Police are trying to support them with a uniformed presence. Speed enforcement is still heavily reliant on residents reporting concerns regarding specific locations.

·       Car Meets – The was an impromptu 200 car gathering on the borders of Westbury, which was a significant anti-social issue for residents and businesses. The Police aim to attend these to provide education and to disperse when appropriate.

·       E-Scooters – Due to the divisive nature of E-Scooters the Police are responding proportionally and are speaking to individuals to educate them before escalating if needed. Repeat offenders will face prosecution with their vehicles seized.

·       Rural Crime – There has been a national rise in GPS equipment being stolen from farms. Though this has happened in Wiltshire, none have happened in Westbury. There is a focus on putting out messages to educate rural landowners and farmers.

·       Protests – Protests have taken place regarding the Westbury incinerator. The Police have attended these to ensure that they were lawful and peaceful.

Following the verbal update there was time for the following questions and points to be raised:

·       A point was made that there have been at least five community Speedwatch stations in Westbury Town completely unmanned whilst others have struggled to recruit volunteers, with volunteers being exposed to intimidation and abuse. Inspector Lumley acknowledged that intimidation is an issue and there is the intention for uniformed Police to attend Speedwatch stations to provide support, even for short durations.

·       It was questioned when will law and regulation get up to speed with E-scooters being used? Inspector Lumley stated that the Police find out about new legislation when the public do, up until this point enforcement is therefore down to discretion.

·       Lack of Police attendance at Parish Council meetings was mentioned, to which Inspector Lumley agreed to raise with Sergeant Kevin Harmsworth.

·       Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service

The Area Board received a verbal update from Ray Bridgman, Station Manager.  The update covered the following matters:

·       Recruitment of on-call fire fighters is always actively taking place, and someone has been recruited and will be starting training  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To receive a presentation from a Highways Officer in regard to the Highways 5-year Work Plan.

The Area Board received a presentation regarding the Highways 5-year Work Plan from Highways Principal Technical Officer, Diane Ware. The presentation covered the following points:

·       Diane provided her email address(diane.ware@wiltshire.gov.uk)for if any attendees wanted to get in touch with her regarding the current proposed plan. It was stated that this is the first revision and pre-plan to inform what the Council is thinking of doing over the next 5 years. The plan will be authorised in April.

·       Previously funds had been allocated based upon the length of the roads in question, however there was a discrepancy with this with traffic flows and geology not being the same for all. Therefore, over the next 5 years funding will be allocating to roads dependent on condition as with the need to be Carbon neutral by 2023, roads cannot be left to need a full reconstruction.

·       In relation to Westbury, 25% of roads look as though they need work, in comparison to an average of 32% across the rest of Wiltshire. Therefore suggesting a less than average spend in the attached report. The data from this year hasn’t be processed yet therefore meaning that this could potentially change.

·       Last year the whole road network was covered by a laser machine, which means that each road has a score and can be looked up. Within the report, the highest scoring and in need of work roads hit 700, with Westbury roads averaging around 200-300.

·       It was also acknowledged that the budget for this work has been cut by half and is now 6 million pounds, therefore cuts have been made, such as the industrial estate in Westbury, with consideration given to not wanting to cause recovering businesses issues with road closures.

Following the presentation there was time for the following questions and points to be raised:

·       It was queried how anything from CATG about a substantive bid has been fitted in. Diane clarified that this doesn’t come under her responsibility, however work is coordinated to try and work through bids together.

·       Explanations of some of the road treatments were sought as well as definitions of terminology.

Resolved

The Area Board agreed to note the contents of the presentation and the report provided by Highways. Additionally it was agreed that the report included in the agenda pack would be taken to the Westbury Community Area Transport Group (CATG) for further comment before returning back to the Area Board next year for approval.

To receive an update from the Westbury Health and Wellbeing Group.

Graeme Morrison, Community Engagement Manager and Councillor Gordon King provided an update on the Westbury Health and Wellbeing Group. The update covered the digital project that had been undertaken by the Group and covered the following points:

·       The project was initiated at the beginning of the year with a criteria to tackle loneliness, isolation and knock-on effects from the pandemic such as poverty and exclusion. The project had the aim of coaching 30 people who had been referred to be more familiar with technology and would target cohorts who were either not online at all, without a device and then those who own a device but weren’t sure how to use it.

·       The project has been successful in obtaining 15 laptops from the Wiltshire Digital Drive and this will be sufficient for the first cohort without a device.

·       Graeme Morrison is set to speak with an organisation, Ability Net, who will be responsible for providing the sessions and to discuss what the sessions will entail. It is hoped that these will start in the next weeks or month.

·       With previously allocated funding, conversations with Vodaphone have taken place, who will provide a data package, providing unlimited data for a year to all those partaking in the project.

·       It is hoped that the project will be open, transparent and will have real and reportable outcomes, also providing social contact for those attending.

To consider the notes and actions log of the previous meeting of the Community Area Transport Group held on 30 July 2021.

Councillor Suzanne Wickham introduced the minutes and recommendations from the CATG meeting held on 30 July 2021.

Resolved:

The minutes of the Community Area Transport Group meeting held on 30 July 2021 were agreed as a correct record.

To consider the following application for funding.

Health and Wellbeing Funding Application:

1)    Independent Living Centre Semington - £4,800 towards benefits advice for the disabled and older community in Wiltshire.

The Area Board considered the following as detailed in the report attached to the agenda supplement.

Health and Wellbeing Funding Application:

1)    Independent Living Centre Semington - £4,800 towards benefits advice for the disabled and older community in Wiltshire.

As this application had not been considered by the Westbury Health and Wellbeing Group, the Area Board decided that this application should be taken to the group for a recommendation. This recommendation would then be provided to the members to decide upon before then being ratified using the Community Engagement Manager’s delegated powers.

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.

The next meeting of the Westbury Area Board will be on 25 November 2021.

The date of the next meeting is Thursday 25 November at 7.00pm.